Fun and Games
by Waiting Sky
Summary: Bliss and his sister Recess prove to be a slight handful when their parents want a break.


This story was written in response to a challenge about Bliss and his little sister Recess causing havoc. I hope I did them justice.   
  
There is implied slash, but if you squint, you can pretend that it doesn't exist.  
  
Disclaimer: Both Xena and Hercules along with the whole band ofslightly odd characters are not mine, nor could I afford their therapy. I am merely borrowing some of them, and have every intention of sending them home no worse off - that can be proven.  
  
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Fun and Games  
  
Being all but dragged along behind a furious god of healing, Bliss took a moment to regret whatever spark of mischief had convinced him that chariot wheel races down on of the Olympus hills was a brilliant idea.   
  
"But Uncle Apollo," a piping voice all but whined from beside him, "we were going to put them back. Honestly. We just didn't want to disturb you in your bedroom. You told us not to!"   
  
'Oh yeah,' Bliss sighed to himself. 'It was THAT spark of mischief.' Bliss made himself a promise to do something nasty to dad Strife some day soon. The week had started so promisingly. Daddy and dad Strife had plans somewhere in Athens that would take all their attention for a few days. Enter the ever helpful Joxer to baby-sit Bliss and his sister Recess, and Bliss was guaranteed a few days to act on a few of his plans that dad Strife's inquisitive nature had stalled.   
  
The relaxation potion that Bliss had stolen the ingredients for had just started to simmer when his Granddad Ares had popped into the main hall. Grabbing Joxer and muttering something about interfering children and their pet bards, their favorite grandfather and Joxer had vanished. A moment of glee at the thought of no supervision had been ruined by their Uncle Apollo's appearance. Casting a disinterested glance at the now boiling mixture by Bliss's side, he had ordered Bliss to grab his sister.  
  
Pouting at the thought of relocation, Bliss had tried to argue that he could look after himself and Recess just fine, but the contemptuous look Apollo gave him made him stutter and stop.  
  
"Look, kid," Apollo drawled, checking his hands thoroughly and buffing his nails against his vest, "All I know is that Ares told me to keep an eye on you since no one else was free. Personally, I don't really want you in my temple, but it's not worth the hassle of moving over here instead." Casting a look of dislike at the cheery decorations of the love temple, he matched Bliss's childish scowl easily.  
  
"Since when do you do what Uncle Ares says, anyway," Bliss challenged, seeing his plans vanishing before his eyes. He knew that Uncle Apollo and Granddad didn't like each other, so he tried to tough his way out.   
  
Giving a snort of annoyance, Apollo reached down and picked up Bliss by his tunic, tucking the struggling god under his arm carelessly. Concentrating for a moment, he blinked them both into Recess's bedroom where the four year old was carefully building a maze of building blocks, a small pink tongue stuck out cutely to the side. Striding casually through the intricate placement of the blocks, Apollo ignored the outraged squeals and slung Recess under his other arm.  
  
"Hey! Let us go!" Bliss bellowed, trying to sound like Uncle Ares. Apollo didn't pay any attention, jiggling the wailing goddess to stop her noise. Trying again, this time Bliss tried for his Grandma Aphrodite after she's caught him painting with her make-up. "Put us down," he roared, the shout startling Recess and causing her to cry even louder. Apollo swore loudly, then yelled at the squirming bundle.  
  
"Will you shut-up? I have a concert recital to attend and your cacophony is ruining my ear!" Bliss didn't know what a cacophony was, but he did know that it probably wasn't good. He also knew that Uncle Apollo was jerking Recess far too hard. Outraged at the rough treatment of his sister, Bliss bit into Apollo's arm.  
  
Bellowing in pain, Apollo dropped them both, clutching at the bite marks that marred his sun-tanned arm. Grabbing them both before they had a chance to run, he transported them to his temple. Tossing them onto a couple of couches in a gaudily decorated room, he locked the door before creating a barrier over the room to prevent them from teleporting out.   
  
"Stay here. I'll be back after the concert, and she had better have stopped her caterwauling by then." Giving Bliss one last angry look, Apollo disappeared. Left alone with his blubbering sister, Bliss groaned. As his dad Strife would say, this was soooo not fair.  
  
After a few minutes of fuming about the indignity of being treated like a kid when he was almost nine years old, Bliss decided he had to do something about Recess. It wasn't like he was really worried about her, she was all too good at playing up a role, but the noise was starting to become irritating, and the edge of her unhappiness was niggling at his godhood. Bliss had been designated as the God of Happiness and Joy, and although he had yet to officially gain access to his full powers and responsibilities, what he did have was telling him to make Recess happy.   
  
Actually, getting his powers was what his experiments had been for. He couldn't be the real God of Happiness and Joy until Zeus declared him ready in front of the pantheon, but his Grandfather didn't seem to know he was grown up enough. Bliss had tried to prove he was ready, but something always went wrong, and grandfather would just pat him on the head or laugh. If he could just manage that potion...  
  
Sighing at the adult's inability to see how mature he was, Bliss got up and moved to his sister's couch. Pulling her close, he stroked her back between the black wings, just like dad would do for him. Hearing her cries quieten into little hiccups, he looked around the room for something to entertain her with. Spotting a large harp in a corner, he smiled happily. That was perfect! Recess loved all sorts of games; after all, she was going to be the Goddess of Childhood and Games. If he presented the stringed instrument as a game, it would keep her busy and cheerful for hours.  
  
"'Cess," he whispered, peering underneath her curtain of dark hair to peek at her face. Still sniffling, she raised her head a little to look at him with teary eyes.   
  
"What?" she asked, her voice trembling a little. Bliss smiled widely at her, bouncing a little when she hesitantly smiled back.  
  
"Want to play a new game?" he asked brightly, pulling her of the couch and toward the tall harp. Recess frowned and bit at her lip.   
  
"It took me ages to build my maze, 'iss," she complained, throwing an angry frown at the door. Bliss grinned triumphantly. He was much more used to dealing with an angry recess than a miserable one. Dad Strife never got upset either, he'd just yell about whatever it was, disappear for a while, and then come back giggling madly. That was one of the reasons Bliss liked him so much. He was always cheerful.   
  
Bliss reached out and strummed his fingers over the strings. Soft notes filled the air, and Recess twisted her head around to stare wide-eyed at the instrument. Bliss was bursting with pride. Joxer had started giving him lessons on a smaller version of this that he called a Lyre. Bliss thought it's name was hilarious, and kept trying to tell his Uncle Hermes about it since he was the god of thieves and liars, but couldn't stop giggling long enough to do so. Recess had been too young though, so Bliss could show her all about it now.  
  
"Look," he told her enthusiastically, pulling his hand along the strings again. "All the strings make different notes, and then you can mix them." Plucking at a couple to demonstrate, he frowned at the lack of volume. Thinking about it, he realised that since this was bigger than Joxer's Lyre - Bliss giggled - it must need to be pulled harder. Shrugging, he grabbed the two strings in both hands, pulling them out as far as possible. Holding them taut for a moment, he let them loose at the same time. A huge harmony vibrated the harp, and the couches, and the walls, and even the floors.  
  
Both Bliss and Recess stared at the harp for a moment as the noise moved the entire room, and then looked at each other evilly. This was fun.   
  
"And stay outside!" Apollo thundered, stalking back inside the temple and slamming the doors.   
  
Not long into a game of Who Can Make the Largest Noise and Move the Couches the Furthest, frantic banging at the door had indicated some of the temple staff wanted entry. Bliss had felt vaguely guilty about the VERY unhappy emotions he was receiving from outside, but it wasn't like they could open the door. Ignoring what he couldn't fix, he had quickly grown bored with the harp and searched out other things to do in the small room.   
  
It hadn't been until he removed one of the heavier drapes that he felt he'd truly found his ideal toy. Sitting innocently in front of him was the results of one of Apollo's experimentations into instrument making. A large log hollow was covered with stretched hide. The trunk was wider than Bliss's outstretched wings, and a small tap on the surface had sent up a deep throb.   
  
Enchanted, Bliss had tapped it a couple more times, the steady boom sounding just like a heartbeat. Looking past it, whole piles of similar constructs of varying sizes and materials littered the corner, and Bliss smiled beautifully as he winged his way to the top of the large pile. Giving an experimental hop, the resultant mix of sound had been thrilling, and he looked back once more at his first find.  
  
Soon, a thumping echo joined the discordant thrumming of the large harp. Both of the room's couches were now capable of flight, and Bliss and Recess were both entirely involved in their own world. That was why the sudden banging of the door to reveal an extremely upset Apollo caused Bliss to falter in his leap, and land sideways into the stacks of boom noise-makers beside him. The clash of the falling heap was met by Recess's dash to help her brother, toppling the giant harp of its raised perch. Bouncing heavily of the wall, and snapping a number of its strings, the harp fell forward - right onto a fuming Apollo.   
  
Roaring as he was forced to blast his own harp, Apollo had seized both of the children he had been so desperately prayed at to deal with, and tossed them both unceremoniously outside.   
  
The two winged children looked at he shut door, blinking.  
  
"Oooookay," Bliss murmured, taking Recess's hand in his. "So Uncle Apollo is a little stressed right now."   
  
Bliss recalled Ares doing something similar when he had tried to help clean his dagger collection with his Grandma Aphrodite's face cream. She had said it was a good cleanser. His daddy had pushed his insanely laughing dad Strife out of the way, before explaining that it wasn't that Bliss had done anything wrong, just that Ares was a little stressed. Dad Strife had agreed when he could talk again, before suggesting he replace the cream with some of Uncle Ares polish, just to be fair.  
  
Bliss had agreed that that sounded right, but his daddy had asked him not to and said that he and dad Strife would replace the cream for Grandma Aphrodite. Dad Strife had argued, but daddy had given him this look, and they'd left Bliss and the two year old Recess with King Iphicles and his son instead of Joxer or Grandma for the next few days.   
  
Bliss was at a loss for what to do, but Recess grabbed his hand and pulled him toward a small cluster of flowers in the distance. "Pretty," she announced, urging her brother to run faster as she tried to flutter in the short bursts of flight she could manage. Willing to go along, Bliss helped her go faster as the two headed straight for the garden of Demeter's temple.   
  
tbc 


End file.
